Apparatus for refining oil



April 4, 1939.

A. s. HARLAN ET AL 2,153,062

APPARATUS FOR REFINING OIL Filgad Nov. 13, 1936 Patented-Apr. 4, 1939 PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR REFINING OIL Avery S. Harlan, Detroit, Mich., and Victor 8. Crane and Paul R. Honan, near Lebanon, Boone County, Ind., assignors to Honan-Crane, Inc., Lebanon, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Application November 13, 1936, Serial No. 110,620

7 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for refining and purifying oil, particularly the oil used for lubricating internal combustion engines, and has for one of its objects the provision of efiicient & means for continuously refining the oil simultaneously with its circulation through the engine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a refining device which may be connected directly in the oil circulation system of the engine and in 1a which the rate of fiow and the concentration of the oil in any portion of the medium through which the oil is passing are both inversely proportional to the quantity of impurities in the oil.

A further. object of the invention is to pro- 35 vide an oil purifierin which the pressure of the oil circulating pump is utilized to pass the oil through a refining medium under sufficient pressure to obtain a high efliciency of operation of the refining medium.

no A further object of the invention is to provide an oil purifier in which the purifying medium may be easily removed and replaced.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of the class named which shall be 25 of improved construction andoperation.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following description.

The invention is exemplified by the combination and arrangement of parts shown in the ac- 30 companying drawing and described in the following specification, and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a part elevation and part section of 35 an oil purifier showing one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3'3 of Fig. 1 on a 40.- larger scale than that of Fig. 1.

In the form of the invention shown, a. metal housing ill of sumcient strength to withstand the pressure used is provided with a removable cover II which is held in place by cap screws i2. A 5 pressure gage I3 is preferably mounted on the cover ll communicating with the interior of the housing Hi to indicate the pressure of the oil within the housing. Supply pipes 13 are threaded into openings through the side wall of the housing i0 near the bottom of the housing and are connected with the oil circulating system of the engine so that" the circulated oil is fed to the interior of the housing ill at one ormore points through the outer wall thereof. The housli ing is preferablyprovided with a removable drain plug I in the bottom thereof. An exit plug I is also threaded in the bottom of the housing and is provided with an exit pipe l6 by which the oil is returned to the circulating system of the en'- gine. The pipe It is preferably provided with a 5 valve I! for regulating the flow of the oil from the housing so as to control the pressure within the housing. A tube It is fixed in an opening in the plug l5 and communicates with the discharge pipe l6. 10 Within the housing it is a basket I9 made of perforated sheet metal and spaced inwardly from the housing it to provide an oil space 20 for circulationof 011 about the basket. The bottom of the basket is provided with a central opening for the tube 88. A removable filter cartridge is placed within the basket i9 and comprises a core tube 26 to which a canvas bag 22 is secured at its top and bottom by any suitable means, such as clamping rings 23 and 24. The bag is filled with a filtering and purifying medium 25 which is preferably an absorptive earth, known under the various names of fullers earth, diatomaceous earth, infusorial earth, etc., which earth has the property of removing free carbon and solid im- 25 purities, both heavy and colloidal, from lubricating oil circulated through the earth under pressure. A gasket 26 makes a tight connection between the lower end of the core tube 2| and the space surrounding the basket l9 so as to prevent an the oil from passing directly to the interior of the tube 2i from the surrounding space. The tube 2| is provided near its middle with a plurality of slots 21 for passage of oil into the interior of the tube after it has penetrated the mass of fullers earth surrounding the tube. The cartridge is inserted into the basket 19 while the cover II is removed from the housing, the tube I8 entering the core 2|. The cartridge is secured in place by a cap 28 which is threaded onto the upper end of the tube l8 and forces the core 2| tightly upon its gasket 26. A gasket 29 is interposed between the upper end of the core 2| and the cap 28 to exclude oil from the upper end of the core. Baflles 30 radiate from the core 2| to prevent us channeling of the oil through the earth along the outer surface of the core 2|.

As shown in the drawing, the wall of the core member is imperforate for a distance from each end thereof slightly greater than the radius of the cartridge, so that oil entering at the end of the cartridge will have as much filtering material to pass through before entering the core mem ber'as the oil entering from the sides.

To exclude the earth from the slots 21, a fine u 2i adjacent the slots 21 and a heavy layer of felt it covers the outer surface of the screen II. The

screen 8i and felt 32 are substantially co-exten sive along the core 2i and are clamped in place by suitable bands II. The screen and feltmay be held away from the outer surface of the core 2i adjacent the slots 21 by a spacer wire as wound spirally about the core 2i over the portion of the core perforated by the slots 21. As the oil enters the housing l0, it will circulate through the space 20 about the periphery of the basket I! and also fill the space above and below the basket so that substantially the entire outer surface of the cartridge of absorptive earth will be exposed to the oil under pressure. -If it were not for the basket any little displacement of the bagwould cause it to adhere to'one side of the inner surface of the housing wall and the oil pressure on the opposite side of the bag would act to retain it in this position; thus shutting off a'large portion of the outer surface'oi' the cartridge from entrance of oil. With the arrangement shown, however, any such displacement is entirely prevented and it will be noted moreover that the oil pressure acting through the perforations in the basket l9 operates to press the canvas bag 22 away from the surface of the basket; thus exposing the entire surface of the cartridge to the entry of oil, and not merely the portions registering with the perofrations. As the oil penetrates through the earth, the impurities therein will be absorbed and the oil will move inwardly until it reaches the slots 27. Purified oil will then fill the space between the tubes l8 and II and will enter the tube l8 through an opening 3! near the upper end of-the'tube. From the opening 38 it will flow downwardly and escape through the valve l1 and back'to the circulating system of the engine. The escape of the oil may be restricted by the valve' I! to regulate the pressure in the housing for securing the most efilcient operation of the filtering medium.

The pressure required for maximum-eiliciency varies from 10 to 60 pounds per square inch, de-= pending upon the kind and vimosity of the oil, the condition of. the engine, temperature of the oil and structure and size of granulars of earth. The pressure commonly used in the circulating system of internal combustion engines has been found suflicient to give satisfactory results, particularly when the oil is at engine temperature or approximately that. The higher the tempera ture of the oil up to approximately 190 Fahrenheit, the better the absorption of impurities by the absorptive earth. In the summer time the heat of the engine will be sufiicient to maintain the oil at a good working temperature but in the winter time and with some kinds of engines, it may be desirable to further heat the oil. This may be done by any suitable form of heating medium, such as a steam or hot water Jacket about the housing III or a heating coilfor'an electric current, indicated diagrammatically at 31. Thecartridge is filled with pulverizeddry absorptive earth, screened for heavy oil, through a screen of 30-80 mesh and for lighter oil through a scr n'of-6090 mesh. 1

It will be noted that the oil entersv a cartridge from the outside and escapes near the center so thatthe entering oil has a large body of earth to which it is subjected so that most of the impurities will be removed from the oil before the flow becomes concentrated near the point where it escapes from the body of the earth. This prevents the earth from becoming saturated with impurities at the points where the flow is most concentrated and permits of relatively slow flow and a great quantity of earth at the points where the contamination is greatest. This arrangement of flow has been found to be of great advantage, both in the time a cartridge may be used before renewal and in the effectiveness of purification.

When a cartridge becomes impregnated with impurities so that it no longer operates effectively, it is a-simple matter to remove the cap 28 and replace the cartridge with a fresh one.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for purifying the lubricating oil of an internal combustion engine comprising a housing, a body of pulverized absorptive earth material disposed-within said housing and spaced away from the outer wall thereof, a fabric bag enclosing said pulverized material, a foraminous basket enclosing said bag and cooperating with said bag to maintain the spaced relation between said body and said wall, said bag being bodily removable from said basket for renewing said body of absorptive earth material means for supplying oil under pressure from said engine to the space between said body and said outer wall to cause the oil to enter said body through the outer surface thereof, the pressure of said oil acting to force said bag away from the surface of said basket to permit entrance of oil through the entire surface of said body oi earth material, and means for draining the oil from the interior of said body after it has penetrated inwardly through saidbody to the interior thereof.

2. Apparatus for purifying lubricating oil for an internal combustion engine comprising a housing having a drain opening therein, a perforated basket disposed within said housing and spaced inwardly from the wall thereof, a removable cartridge of pulverized filtering material disposed within'said basket said cartridge comprising a canvas bag enclosing said filtering material means for supplying oil under pressure from said engine to the space between said cartridge and the wall of said housing to cause the oil to penetrate said cartridge from the outer surface thereof, the pressure of said oil operating to press said bag away from the surface of said basket to admit oil through the entire surface of said cartridge, means for draining the oil from a point Within said cartridge near the middle thereof said draining means comprising a hollow core member disposed within said canvas bag and having one end projecting from said bag, the wall of said core member within said bag being imperfora-te for a distance inwardly from the projecting end thereof substantially as great as the radius of said cartridge but being perforated adjacent the middle of said cartridge to admit oil thereto, the end of said core member communicating with said drain opening and means for forming a releasable seal between the end of said core member and the space aboutsaid basket when said cartridge is in place in said basket.

, 3. A cartridge for an oil filter comprising a core tube, a fabric bag surrounding said tube and seearth from said tube, and radially extending peripheral flanges on said tube forming baflles to greases prevent the oil from forming channels on the surfaces of said. tube.

4. A purifier for lubricating oil comprising a housing member, a perforated basket disposed within said housing member, means for spacing the wall ofsaid basket from the interior wall of said housing member, a removable cover for said housing member, a removable cartridge adapted to fit within said basket, said cartridge comprising a core tube, a fabric bag surrounding said tube and secured thereto adjacent the opposite ends of said tube, absorptive earth within said bag, a drain tube fixed to the bottom end of said housing and adapted to pass loosely through said core tube when said cartridge is in place within said housing, a cap threaded on said drain tube for holding said core tube in place, packing means for sealing the ends of said core tube to exclude oil from entering said core tube through said ends, said core tube being perforated near the middle thereof to permit the entrance of oil thereto from said cartridge, means for supplying oil under pressure from an internal combustionengine to the space surrounding said basket, said drain being perforated to permit entrance of oil from said core tube into said drain, a pipe com municating with said drain tube for returning the oil to the circulating system of an internal combustion engine, a valve for regulating the fiow of oil through said pipe to control the oil pressure within said housing, and baifles on said core tube to prevent channeling of the earth adjacent the surface of said core tube.

5. An oil filter comprising a housing having a drain opening in the bottom thereof, a hollow tension member secured to the bottom said housing adjacent said drain opening and extending upwardly through said housing and communicating at its lower end with said drain opening, a removable filter cartridge for said filter com prising a hollow core member, a body of filtering material surrounding said core member, means for holding said filtering material in place about said core member, said core member being arranged to receive said tension member when said filter cartridge is in place in said housing, said core member being of sufficiently greater diameter than said tension member to provide circulation space between the adjacent walls of said members, said housing having a seat surrounding said drain opening for receiving the lower end of said core member, a holding device releasably attachable to the upper end of said tension member for holding said cartridge in place in said housing and for closing the upper end of said core member, said core member being perforated to permit the entrance of liquid from said cartridge, said tension member having a passage connecting the interior thereof with said circulation space and means for supplying liquid to said housing about the outer surface of said body of filtering material.

6. Means for filtering oil from an internal combustion engine comprising a housing having a drain opening in the lower end thereof, a removable cover for the top of said housing, a drain pipe secured to the lower end of said housing and communicating with said drain opening and extending upwardly through said housing, a foraminated basket disposed in said housing and spaced inwardly from the outer wall of said housing, a renewable cartridge for said oil filtering means comprising a hollow core member, a body of pulverized filtering earth surrounding said core member and located within said basket, a canvas has secured to the said core member for holding said body of earth in position about said core member and within said basket, the wall of said core member being -perforated near its middle for passage of oil from said earth tothe interior of said core member, there being space within said core member about said drain pipe for circulation of oil, said housing having a seat surrounding the lower end of said drain pipe for receiving the lower end of said core member when said cartridge is in position in said basket with said drain pipe extending into said core member, a cap threaded onto the upper end of said drain pipe closing the upper end of said core member and for holding said core member and filter cartridge in position in said housing, said drain pipe communicating with the interior of said core member, and means for supplying oil from said engine to the interior of said housing in the space about said basket so that the pressure of said oil will act through the perforations in said basket tending to press said canvas bag away from the inner surface of said basket to permit entrance of oil through the entire surface of said cartridge.

7. An oil filter comprising a housing, a filter cartridge disposed within said housing, means for spacing said cartridge from the wall of said housing, to provide a space within said housing about said cartridge, means for supplying oil under pressure to the space about said cartridge, said spacing means operating "to prevent the pressure of said oil from pressing any portion ofsaid cartridge against the inner surface of the wall of said housing and means for draining the oil from the middle portion of said cartridge after said oil has passed inwardly through the filter medium of said cartridge, said cartridge comprising a canvas bag filled with pulverized diatomaceous earth forming said filter medium, the pulverized earth being retained by said bag and said bag being removable from said housing for renewal of said filter medium. AVERY S. HARLAN. VICTOR S. CRANE.

PAUL R. HONAN.

DISCLAIMER I 2,l53,062.Aver S. Harlan, Detroit, Mich., and Victor 8'. Crane and Paul R. Honda,

near Le anon, Boone County, Ind.

APPARATUS FOR Rnrmmo OIL. Patent dated Apr. 4, 1939. Disclaimer filed Mar. 14, 1945, by the assignee, Honan- Crane Corporation.

[Oflic'ial Gazette April 17, 1945.] 

